Dream of the Red Chamber
(1868)(A Dream of Red Mansions / The Story of the Stone)
A novel by Cao Xueqin
One of the supreme achievements of world literature—and widely regarded as the greatest novel ever written in China—A Dream of the Red Chamber is Cao Xueqin's monumental eighteenth-century masterpiece. At once an intimate family chronicle, a tragic love story, and a profound meditation on human existence, it follows the fortunes of the mighty Jia clan as its wealth, influence, and splendour slowly crumble into memory. At its heart lies the unforgettable relationship between the gifted, melancholic Lin Daiyu and the sensitive young heir Jia Baoyu, whose lives unfold amid the gardens, intrigues, rivalries, and fading grandeur of an aristocratic world destined to vanish.
This edition presents the complete surviving English translation by H. Bencraft Joly, originally published in two volumes in 1892 and 1893 and regarded as the landmark translation that first introduced A Dream of the Red Chamber to English-language readers. As the earliest substantial English rendering of Cao Xueqin's masterpiece, Joly's work occupies a distinguished place in the history of Chinese literature's transmission to the West. For the first time, both of Joly's original volumes are gathered here in a single edition, preserving a translation of lasting historical and literary significance.
Prepared for modern readers, this annotated edition includes fifty-four explanatory notes illuminating historical customs, religious concepts, literary references, cultural practices, and subtle wordplay that might otherwise escape contemporary audiences. It also features a guide to the principal characters, a publisher's introduction, and background essays on Cao Xueqin and the extraordinary history of the novel. Convenient linked endnotes allow readers to move seamlessly between the text and the commentary.
Beloved by generations, studied by scholars for centuries, and the subject of its own field of academic inquiry, A Dream of the Red Chamber remains one of humanity's most remarkable literary creations—presented here with the care, context, and accessibility it deserves.
Genre: Literary Fiction
This edition presents the complete surviving English translation by H. Bencraft Joly, originally published in two volumes in 1892 and 1893 and regarded as the landmark translation that first introduced A Dream of the Red Chamber to English-language readers. As the earliest substantial English rendering of Cao Xueqin's masterpiece, Joly's work occupies a distinguished place in the history of Chinese literature's transmission to the West. For the first time, both of Joly's original volumes are gathered here in a single edition, preserving a translation of lasting historical and literary significance.
Prepared for modern readers, this annotated edition includes fifty-four explanatory notes illuminating historical customs, religious concepts, literary references, cultural practices, and subtle wordplay that might otherwise escape contemporary audiences. It also features a guide to the principal characters, a publisher's introduction, and background essays on Cao Xueqin and the extraordinary history of the novel. Convenient linked endnotes allow readers to move seamlessly between the text and the commentary.
Beloved by generations, studied by scholars for centuries, and the subject of its own field of academic inquiry, A Dream of the Red Chamber remains one of humanity's most remarkable literary creations—presented here with the care, context, and accessibility it deserves.
Genre: Literary Fiction
Used availability for Cao Xueqin's Dream of the Red Chamber